Newton's Third Law

Submitted by Amy Morgeson on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 1:06pm

I’m having one of those heavy weeks that just seem to keep putting layer and layer of sadness on every day. While I’ll admit that I’m the type that seems to be oversensitive to the anything sad or negative it’s just that I feel like a big sponge sometimes that just keeps seeping the stuff up. Despite me being able to recognize it I just can’t seem to change it.

I went for a long time where I just couldn’t watch the news because of the reports of everything going wrong. Blocking out the world doesn’t much seem the answer though you still hear just as much of what’s wrong in every day conversation.

I’ve been thinking about all the bad stuff that seems to happen, especially this week, and have been trying to work out some sense of it for myself that will allow me to move forward and not be so bogged down by it. It’s in thinking about that, that I thought of physics. No I am in no way a physicists nor do I claim to understand any of its laws but I do remember this: Sir Isaac Newton’s third law states that, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” I guess maybe that’s an odd thing to think about but for some reason it gave me a bit of clarity and maybe hope that things in the world aren’t quite as bad as they might seem at the time.

See, while I’m not a physicist I like to think I kind of get that one, at least in theory. If indeed there is an opposite reaction to every action then maybe it holds true that for every bad there has to be a good, or that for every sadness there has to be a happy day, for every thunderstorm or tornado, a rainbow? I know when thinking of that, from a logical standpoint, from the negative side, you can just as easily say that for every good there is a bad. The thing is, from that way of thinking, there at least has to a balance in the world. And that makes me feel a bit better.

With that in mind I’ve decided that rather than sit and dwell on every bad thing that happened this week that I should try to think of something good that had happened to balance it all out. It didn’t have to be anything life changing just something that made me happy when I thought of it. For instance:

Dennis mows and leaves patches of wildflowers in the middle of the yard because he knows I like them and that the girls like to pick them, even in the face of them really being weeds.

The way Gabby was singing, “Rain, Rain, Go Away,” quietly to herself the other night during the light rainfall we got and that a rainbow popped up at the back of the house right after the rain subsided.

How a friend sends me random links to things like red and white polka dotted items because she knows I’ll like them and that another posts videos of songs that seem to bizarrely fit whatever situation I’m in that day.

That a baby can still coo and smile during even the saddest of times and that I know that the person who the sadness surrounded would have been incredibly happy to see it.

Getting to watch someone who has found a new love truly enjoy herself for once after a bad relationship.

The silly lighthearted bickering and joking of two women who seem to have been born to be friends.

Two elderly sisters that I see every so often who don’t even need to talk to express themselves and the fact that they drive an old Volkswagen bug.

How someone who I know is taking a big leap of faith to make a change in her life is truly going to be happier for it and the look of relief on her face when she realized the opportunity for change was an answer to a prayer she’s had for a long time now.

The fact that we still have a drugstore with a soda fountain where I can get a diet coke and peppermint patty when the day is going bad.

Knowing that one friend is spending the morning taking a walk to allow nature to ease her own worries of the week and seeing the beautiful images that she captures and shares when she returns.

How Tori, no matter how many times you try to untangle her, will end up twisted into a pretzel while she sleeps.

The fierce love of a Son for his mother.

As sad and worrisome as the week has been I know that I could go on and on if I allow myself to look past the negative of the situation. I, maybe we, simply need to believe that there is balance in the world.